Marriage may have become “a distinctive social institution marking middle-class status,” as a recent study found, but perhaps the hot new thing for the upper-upper class is getting pregnant out of wedlock. This week Georgina Bloomberg told reporters she was expecting her first son with her boyfriend of seven years, Argentine equestrian Ramiro Quintana, on Christmas. There will be no shotgun wedding. “I live with my boyfriend, but I never want to get married,” she told “Page Six.” “I’ve always been non-traditional.”
But even the traditionally traditional royal families are playing adulthood by ear. Bloomberg’s declaration came on the heels of the wedding announcement of Colombian heiress Tatiano Santo Domingo and Monaco’s third-in-line, Andre Casiraghi. It’s set for the end of the month, just six months after the birth of their son, Sacha. Casiraghi’s sister Charlotte is due later this year and will wed actor Gad Elmaleh sometime during her third term. And then, of course, there’s no shortage of tradition-free American celebrities living in sin: Kimye, Brangelina, Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson.
This blog has noted that marriage is a little like a luxury good, but only the middle class thinks of luxury goods as luxuries. It might be a little bit like a high-end car. While the middle class saves up for a Lexus, the superrich drive a statement Prius.
